Air & Liquid Systems Corporation and other named defendants face a man’s recent asbestos exposure lawsuit in South Carolina federal court over his development of mesothelioma.

Plaintiff Paul C. filed the asbestos exposure lawsuit on July 5, 2018, demanding jury trial.

According to the asbestos exposure lawsuit, Paul says that he served in the United States Navy as a Boiler Tender between June 1961 and June 1965. During this time, he says that he worked with different kinds of equipment and machinery that allowed him to be exposed to asbestos, leading to his development of mesothelioma. He says that he was also exposed to asbestos while serving at the Charleston Naval Shipyard in North Charleston, S.C.

According to the asbestos exposure lawsuit, moreover, Paul was also employed as a professional electrician from 1965 until present time. His work included maintenance, renovations, and various types of repair on electrical equipment. Some of the equipment he had to repair included switch gears, arc chutes, insulated wire, electrical panels, and transformers.

However, during the course of his employment, he says he “otherwise absorbed asbestos fibers emanating from certain products he was working with and around,” the asbestos exposure lawsuit states.

According to the asbestos exposure lawsuit, Paul’s “cumulative exposure to asbestos as a result of acts and omissions of Defendants and their defective products, individually and together, was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiff’s mesothelioma and other related injuries and therefore under South Carolina law, is the legal cause of Plaintiff’s injuries and damages.”

The asbestos exposure lawsuit is filed on multiple counts including negligence, strict liability, vicarious liability, premises liability, breach of implied warranties, fraudulent misrepresentation, among others.

Overview: Asbestos Mesothelioma

According to the Mayo Clinic, mesothelioma is an “aggressive and deadly form of cancer.” The cancer develops in a thin tissue layer covering all major organs on the body known as the mesothelium. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common kind of mesothelioma; a cancer that affects the tissues of the lungs. A cure for mesothelioma has yet to be found.

Signs and symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include the following:

• Painful coughing
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain below the rib cage
• Unexplained weight loss
• Lumps of tissue under the skin on your chest

While asbestos is the name termed to describe six naturally occurring minerals that develop as bundles of fiber, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the use of asbestos in 1989.

Additionally, other federal agencies such as the EPA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), have all classified asbestos as a human carcinogen; a substance able to cause cancer in living tissue.

Thousands of people have died or are expected to die from mesothelioma after asbestos exposure in shipyards, However, numbers do not include asbestos miners, construction workers, and other persons who may also become exposed to asbestos while at home or at work.

The Asbestos Exposure Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-01842-TLW, in the Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial Circuit.